


Found

by glaciernoswag (kaashmoneybb)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Childhood Friends, Gen, Hybrids, Spirit World, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28559070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaashmoneybb/pseuds/glaciernoswag
Summary: Fox spirit Atsumu finds a lost black cat spirit Kiyoomi and helps him find his dad. A short and sweet childhood friends story in a spirit world fantasy AU.
Relationships: Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 89





	Found

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this and published on Twitter for my friend @/yakojarvi based on her adorable art [here](https://twitter.com/yakojarvi/status/1338160100280766465?s=20). It's just a pure story about sakuatsu as kids! Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoy!

In another world, a spirit is born every time someone in our world falls in love. 

Not just any love: when we fall in love for the last time, the one that counts. 

Though we call them spirits, they’re not so unlike us.

Swan spirits are born from requited first (and, consequently, last) loves. Many envy the swan spirits, with beautiful white wings, feathered joints, and a creation from the epitome of romance.

Fox spirits are born from love that made its bearers feel forever young– and cat spirits made by love that one resented but, over time, gave into wholeheartedly. 

No one envies black cats. They come from love that was so begrudged and desperately hidden that it was never confessed. A black cat spirit garners pitiful glances. What could have happened to a human to make them detest their own love so deeply? Was the object of their love taken by another? Or were they so self loathing that they didn’t believe they deserved to feel it?

One day, in an unassuming town in this world, a young boy raced through the streets. He smirked; his brother would never catch up to him. He weaved through the people in the market aisles, disappearing in a maze of legs, not nearly tall enough for his golden fox ears to be visible above the crowd. The thick fur of his tail bristled with excitement; he knew he was out of Osamu’s sight. 

He slowed down to a walk, slinking along the outskirts of the square, passing by narrow alleyways between the shops. His eyes darted back and forth to keep a lookout for any glimpses of silver fur. 

“AH!” he yelped, jumping back into a wall. “Oh. Sorry, Okami-ojisan,” he stammered to the gray wolf spirit looming over him in front of the blacksmith’s forge. 

“Atsumu-chan,” he said sternly. “Watch where you’re going. You know what happened last time you and your brother got carried away.”

“Yes, ojisan. I’m being careful, I swear.” 

Atsumu slipped away, letting out a sigh of relief. He figured Osamu knew he had won by now, so he was about to turn back to find him at their meet-up spot, when he saw someone out of the corner of his eye peering out from an alley.

The other boy looked to him briefly with desperation in his wide, dark eyes. He was clinging to the wall, nervously glancing out into the crowd, but unable to see past the legs that swarmed in front of him.

“Hey, are you okay?” Atsumu asked. “What’s your name? How come I don’t know you from school?”

The boy twiddled with his own black cat’s tail anxiously, his ears flattened to the side. “I can’t find my otousan,” he said meekly, clearly trying to pretend like he wasn’t a strong breeze away from bursting into tears. He ignored Atsumu’s other questions.

“Jeez, well, that’s alright. Don’t worry, neko, let’s go to the center. We can get up real high, and then your otousan will see you!” Atsumu smiled, extending his small hand to the other boy. 

Kiyoomi hesitated, but sensed safety in the warm eyes staring at him expectantly. He took his hand, but was too shy to say anything else yet. 

Atsumu squeezed his hand extra tight and gave him a determined look. “Don’t let go, okay? Or you’ll get lost again!” 

He pulled Kiyoomi back into the crowd.

Kiyoomi didn’t know how Atsumu could navigate the market without being able to see any of its landmarks, but suddenly, they arrived at a small onigiri stand next to a fountain in the middle of the square. 

“Kaasan! Tousan! My friend lost his otousan. We need to go on top of the stand so he can see him!”

His mom laughed. She was familiar with her son's antics, and generally indulged him, as long as it wasn’t harmful. Plus, she’d help the little cat spirit find his way home anyways if Atsumu’s extravagant idea didn’t work. 

“Tsumu! You cheated! You ran away before I counted to ten!”

“Shh! Samu, who cares! I have to help… well, he didn’t tell me his name. C'mon, let’s climb up together. I’ll give you a boost!”

“What?” Kiyoomi squeaked, hugging his own tail again. “I don’t want…. people to see me,” he said anxiously. 

Atsumu put his hands on his hips. “Why not? How is your otousan going to find you then?”

“Atsumu,” his mom chided, giving him a look that told him to watch his mouth. Atsumu frowned, but then he noticed the other boy’s worried face, and how his ears flattened into black hair so that they were almost unnoticeable. He stepped closer and reached out to touch his hand.

“Is it because of your… because of your ears? Because…. I don’t care about that at all! And your otousan doesn’t care about that. He’s probably just worried sick about you, 'cause he loves you. And your ears are really cute. I’m jealous! I wish I was a black cat!”

Kiyoomi scoffed, but hid a tiny smile by looking at the ground. “You’re just saying that.”

“No, I mean it! Let’s switch tails some day! I bet yours can grab stuff really good.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Atsumu smiled. “So, can you tell me your name? I’m Atsumu. If you didn’t figure that out from my brother. But I need to know your name so I can yell for your otousan up there.”

“It’s Sakusa Kiyoomi,” he answered quietly, looking up at the roof of the onigiri stand. Atsumu went first, and then helped pull Kiyoomi up the side, so that both of them were standing on top.

“Sakusa-otousan! Sakusa-otousan!” Atsumu started shouting, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Kiyoomi-chan is here!”

As the people milling around looked up at the commotion, Kiyoomi wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to go. Instead he clung to the side of Atsumu’s yukata. “Tousan!” he called, barely above regular volume, nervously glancing across the crowd.

“Kiyoomi!”

Atsumu and Kiyoomi's heads whipped towards the source of the voice. A tall man, who looked just like a grown-up Kiyoomi save for his smoky gray cat ears, pushed through the crowd. As he got closer, Atsumu saw his red, puffy eyes. He hoped Kiyoomi didn’t notice.

“Tousan!” Kiyoomi cried, jumping off the roof immediately. 

“Kiyoomi-chan, wait!” Atsumu yelped, before seeing Kiyoomi's father catch him in his arms and hold him tight, pressing his face to the top of his child's head. Atsumu scrambled down from the roof and approached the two of them cautiously. Kiyoomi had finally started to let his tears fall, his bottled-up fear spilling out into his father’s chest. As he calmed down, Sakusa-otousan set him back on the ground, and turned to Atsumu’s mother, thanking her profusely, recounting how Kiyoomi had gotten lost in the first place. 

Kiyoomi managed a small smile for Atsumu, holding onto the side of his father’s pant leg. “Thank you for helping me, Atsumu.”

“I’m glad your otousan found you, Kiyoomi-chan. I was really scared too, for a second!” He turned to his mother. “Kaasan, can you write down where Kiyoomi-chan lives? I want to play with him!” he said excitedly, hopping from foot to foot.

Kiyoomi hugged himself and looked away. “You want to be my friend?”

“Yeah… only if you want to! I’ve never had a cat friend before. If we’re friends then we can always stick together and you won’t get lost again.”

Kiyoomi blushed. “Okay. I want to be friends too, then.”

Sakusa’s father gave a scrap of paper with their address on it to Atsumu’s mother and turned away from the stand, and Kiyoomi knew it was time to go home. 

“I’ll see you soon to play?” Atsumu asked hopefully, yet not requiring a response. He turned to head inside the stand where Osamu was busy making a Frankenstein snack out of onigiri ingredients. 

“Wait!” 

Kiyoomi stepped forward, and captured Atsumu’s fluffy tail in both of his arms. He held it close, feeling it tickle his nose and chin. Atsumu halted, glancing back in surprise, color rushing to his cheeks. 

“Thank you... for wanting to be my friend,” Kiyoomi whispered into the soft fur.

“You don’t have to thank me for that, Kiyoomi-chan. You’re silly.” He smiled and patted Kiyoomi’s head, then stepped into the onigiri stand. He started arguing with Osamu over the mess he’d made with salmon roe.

Kiyoomi watched over his shoulder as he walked away, holding his otousan's hand tight. He secretly made a wish for his golden fox friend to stick with him for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> ik the use of otousan was inconsistent I just wanted omi to yell tousan in his tiny voice ok


End file.
